


Family Ties

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: Near Miss AU [7]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24059302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: The thing is, Race and Spot know what kind of man Jack is.Naturally, they're a little concerned about David.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins, past Jack Kelly/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Near Miss AU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735408
Comments: 15
Kudos: 93





	Family Ties

**Author's Note:**

> I got a request for Spot and Race's POV on Jack and Davey getting together! And since I literally only do one thing right now, here it is!

“What do you think of this whole thing with Jack, Racer?”

Race, who’s making dinner, pauses, looking up at his husband. “What do you mean? Like, with Daves?”

_“Yeah,_ like with Daves,” Spot replies. He’s on the couch, the book he’d been reading completely forgotten. “I don’t usually spare Jack’s personal life much thought otherwise.” He taps his fingers against his knee. “But David’s family, so –“

“Jack is your literal brother, Sean,” says Race, returning some of his attention to dinner prep.

“Jack don’t need me looking out for him,” says Spot.

“David is an adult,” Race replies. “I’m sure he’d tell you he doesn’t need looking after either.”

Spot pulls a face at that. “Yeah, well, Daves doesn’t know what he’s getting into, and I do.”

“And I know better than you do,” says Race. “Relax, will you?”

“I don’t want David getting hurt.”

“David isn’t going to get hurt.” Race shrugs. “Or maybe he will, I don’t know, I can’t see the future. What I do know is that Dave and Jack are stubborn sons of bitches and they will not take kindly to you messing around in their relationship.”

“They don’t have a _relationship_ ,” says Spot, crossing his arms. “Jack’s sweet on David, but –“

Leah and Frankie run through the room, out the front door, and across the hall.

“Francesco Higgins-Conlon, you better be back here for dinner!” Race calls after them.

There’s a pause as they listen for the faint “ _Okay, Dad!”_

Once it comes, Race nods for Spot to continue.

“Jack’s sweet on David,” Spot repeats, “but that ain’t a relationship. Don’t mean David’s sweet on Jack.”

“First of all, I don’t know if you’ve _talked_ to Daves this week, but he’s totally sweet on Jack. It’s cute,” Race says, holding up one finger. He puts up a second. “Two, though, that’s how, like, _all_ relationships work. You don’t really know each other, but something catches your eye and you get to gettin’ to know each other.” He shrugs. “Hell, even you an’ I were more or less strangers once.”

“Neither of us is Jack fucking Kelly.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced ‘Francis,’” Race says, rolling his eyes. “Easy mistake. Fucking, Francis, they sound almost the same.”

“Smartass.”

“Your smartass.”

“I’m trying to make a serious point here, Tones,” Spot says, frowning.

“Yeah, Sean, I know,” says Race. “And I’m hearing you. You care a lot about David, and you’re worried Jack will hurt him. But you and I both know Jack doesn’t hurt people on purpose –“

“He still hurts people, Tony.”

“I _know_.” Race waves vaguely toward his own chest. “Sean, _I’m_ people.”

“Race –“

“I’m just saying, between the two of us, I’m the one who knows what Jack’s like about stuff like this,” says Race. “I hear you saying you’re worried about David, and I’m worried for him, too, but I also think that he and Jack could be a really good fit. If anyone in this stupid world could temper Jack’s whole thing, I think it might be our Daves.”

“I still don’t like it. Jack takes risks with people’s hearts.”

Race shakes his head. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t mean Dave doesn’t deserve the chance to make his own choices about the whole thing.”

“I never said he shouldn’t get his own choice,” Spot grumbles.

“It’s implied,” says Race. He looks down at the food for a moment. “Go grab our son, would you? This is done.”

Spot stands. “Yeah, alright.”

\--

Spot is mostly asleep, draped across Race in bed. It’s late, they’ve been in bed at least an hour, and the apartment is completely silent but for the slow breathing of its inhabitants.

Until Race’s phone goes off, setting off a bright light and his very loud text tone, startling the ever living hell out of Spot. Race himself doesn’t even stir.

“Rac _er_ ,” Spot groans. “Tones, you gotta –“ he yawns – “you gotta silence your phone before we go to bed.”

Race doesn’t wake up.

Spot grumbles to himself as he reaches across his husband to lock his phone and maybe flip it over in case he gets another text so it doesn’t light the whole fucking room up again. He can’t help but notice the text that came in, and it makes Spot’s heart just about stop for a minute.

_From: Crutchie_

_Jack broke up with Dave_

_He’s fucking crushed_

_Would you check on Davey for me? He’s prob in rough shape_

“Fucking hell,” Spot says. He shifts back into his usual spot on the mattress, wrapped around Race’s torso. He tries for a few minutes to go back to sleep, but his brain won’t let him. Instead, he shakes Race until he wakes up.

“Wha’sup, sweets?” Race asks sleepily.

“Crutchie texted,” says Spot. “Jack dumped Daves. I wanna go check on him.”

Race puts an arm across Spot’s shoulders. “In the morning, darlin’.” He yawns. “You’re such a mother hen.”

“Tones –“

“S’the middle of the night, sweets,” says Race. He pats Spot’s face clumsily, the movements muddled by sleep.

“I knew something was going to happen.”

“Shut up,” Race says. “Go back to sleep. You can fuss over him in the morning.”

“God, sweetness, you’re so nice to me,” says Spot. He settles back against Race’s chest anyway. “I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

“Neither did I,” Race replies. He yawns. “Didn’t want that for either’a them. Happens though. We can take the kids for a bit tomorrow, give Daves a little space to sort it out, how ‘bout that?”

“Good idea,” says Spot.

“Go back to sleep, sweets,” Race repeats. He runs his fingers along Spot’s spine, trying to soothe him. “We can pick up the pieces of Dave’s heart in the morning.”

\--

It’s a relief when Jack and David work things out, that’s for damned sure.

Leah’s birthday comes not too long after their brief breakup, but it seems to Race like they’ve found a balance. Jack lurks in the kitchen with Spot at the kid party, while Race circulates and talks to parents with David – the guests are a mix of Leah and Frankie’s classmates from school and the studio, so Race knows absolutely all of them.

It seems like Spot and Jack have discovered some other connection between Jack and David, if the slightly stunned looking conversation between Mikey and the boys in the kitchen is any indication. Race is helping David corral everybody for presents when Jack breaks away and joins them in the living room.

Race is just too far away to hear what Jack and David say to each other over the chaos, but he sees Jack – who walked away from Spot a knot of tension so tight Race could practically feel it – visibly relax when they make eye contact. The two of them and Leah get settled onto the couch, and it catches Race slightly off guard to see how natural a picture it is. He knows better than just about anyone that Jack and David are still on pretty shaky ground, trying to forge a new relationship through the hurt that almost shattered it.

But watching the two of them with Leah, he’d never know.

It looks easy, relaxed. Jack is clearly at home on this couch, with Leah perched on his knees and David a few inches away. The two men banter back and forth and talk to Leah and they make such a good family that it almost physically hurts Race to remember how close this was to falling through.

Spot sits on the arm of Race’s chair, his hand resting at the back of Race’s neck and rubbing little circles with his thumb. “They look happy.”

“They do,” Race says, letting his head fall against Spot’s side. “I hope it sticks this time.”

“Yeah,” says Spot, “I hope so, too.”


End file.
